North Miami-Dade News

Today, Congress members María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI) submitted a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, demanding an explanation on how President Biden's plans to alleviate financial sanctions on the Cuban regime are consistent with current U.S. legislation. Representatives Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) also joined the letter.

To circumvent U.S. sanctions, the Biden Administration is using a "legal loophole," channeling money to "Small Businesses" on the Island that, in many cases, are connected with the Cuban regime. An example of this is MadWoman, a small business contracted by the U.S. Embassy in Havana that fired an employee for criticizing the communist regime on his personal social media.

The U.S. Government should not fund "Small Businesses" that suppress freedom of speech and are controlled by the Cuban dictatorship.

"Despite the long history of the Cuban regime undermining U.S. national security and aligning with foreign adversaries such as Iran, China, and Russia, the Biden Administration has taken numerous steps to reopen relations with Cuba's authoritarian regime since taking office," wrote Representatives Salazar and Huizenga. "Any effort to diminish or evade the current embargo on Cuba contravenes U.S. law and favors our foreign adversaries, Russia and China, who are closely aligned with Cuba."

In January 2024, Congresswoman Salazar convened a hearing to examine Cuban regime propaganda around a new and flourishing "private sector" and the Biden Administration's blind willingness to embrace it. The hearing was a reaction to plans by the administration to open up the U.S banking system to Cuban entrepreneurs with small and medium-sized businesses.

President Biden's plans to ease restrictions on Cubans' access to the U.S financial system may seem good in theory but contradict everything we know about the Cuban regime in reality.

One of the main concerns Congresswoman Salazar raised during the hearing was the Biden Administration's inability to adequately explain how they can prevent U.S dollars intended for "independent entrepreneurs" from ending up in the hands of the regime.

Given that the regime controls all aspects of economic and political life on the Island, there is no way to guarantee that the federal government is not propping up the regime, violating U.S laws established by Congress, and strengthening our enemies abroad.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.